George Burroughs

George Burroughs graduated from Harvard College in 1670 and had bounced around a lot between Casco, Maine and the Village of Salem between 1676 and 1683. After being driven out of Casco by Indians and leaving Salem after a salary dispute with John Putnam, he settled in Wells, Maine. There he was given 150 acres of land and served as a non-ordained minister for nine years until he was arrested for Witchcraft and taken back to Salem on May 4th to stand trial. His arrest “constituted the most dramatic escalation of judicial action during the early phases of the trials.” He was tried on August 5th just three months later and hanged on August 17th along with three other men and one other woman, all supposed witches.

Burroughs was said to be the “ringleader of them all” and there was said to be no shortage of testimony that he was a witch. Some even testified that he was a “conjurer” which was above a witch. There were many damaging testimonies against Burroughs by Abigail Hobbs who claimed he’d given her magic dolls, and Mercy Lewis who claimed Burroughs “carried me up to an exceeding high mountain and showed me all the kingdoms of the earth and told me that he would give them all to me if I would write in his book,” yet the most damaging of all was by several confessed witches who identified him as “Satan’s personal representative at Salem’s Sabbaths.” The purpose of these testimonies was to convince the magistrates that they had finally found one of the most prominent figures in the diabolical operations. Furthermore, the majority of the testimonies focused on his typical mistreatment of his wives and uncanny physical strength. Ann Putnam, John Putnam’s wife, stated she was visited by two of Burroughs’ deceased wives who claimed they were mistreated by him. Despite having a relatively small stature he was said to have “superhuman strength.” It was even said that he had been able to run faster than a horse and had carried a whole barrel of molasses a great distance; all of which were deemed impossible by a mere mortal.

Even though there was sufficient evidence against him, historical records have stated he had many character traits that were uncommon for a wizard (a male witch). There is some "evidence that he was self-denying, generous, and public spirited, laboring with humility and with zeal” and "he was an able, intelligent, true-minded man; ingenuous, sincere, humble in his spirit, faithful and devoted as a minister, and active, generous and disinterested as a citizen." All of which are character traits relatively not associated with a witch. As a result, thirty-two citizens of the Salem Village signed a petition for Burroughs innocence. One of his former accusers even said that her testimony was all out of fear. Still, despite all of this, it was no use and he was to be hanged. While awaiting the noose, Burroughs perfectly recited the Lord’s Prayer, which was something impossible for a witch. The people watching began pleading for them to let Burroughs go and begged for his pardon. However, he was hanged before the spectators could organize their opposition.

Roughly twenty years after Burroughs was hanged, his children were given monetary compensation from the government for their father's wrongful execution.